Several news outlets filed reports incorrectly stating that the Minnesota Vikings had opened their stadium to shelter the homeless on a cold winter night.

CLAIM

RATING

ORIGIN

On 18 December 2016, Twitter user David Dellanave posted a message claiming that the Minnesota Vikings football team had opened up U.S. Bank Stadium to shelter the homeless on a particularly cold winter night:

Although Dellanave is not a reporter or a spokesperson for the Minnesota Vikings, his message was picked up and reported as fact by several news outlets, including Yahoo Newsand CBS Sports:

The Minnesota Vikings are embracing the Christmas spirit early and helping out the community on Sunday night.

According to David Dellanave, U.S. Bank Stadium will be open to the local homeless population during a night with crazy cold temperatures.

The Minnesota Vikings, however, did not open U.S. Bank Stadium on 18 December 2016 to shelter the homeless. Dellanave eventually deleted his original tweet and posted follow-up messages claiming that he had posted the false information as an attempt to draw attention to a social issue:

Tweet deleted. Point was to highlight a social issue and waste of taxpayer money that could help people instead of make private profits 1/3